May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Kentucky Derby champion Big Brown is an even-money bet to become the first thoroughbred in 30 years to win horse racing's Triple Crown, partly because of weak competition, according to oddsmakers.

``He is that good and the others aren't proven,'' said Pimlico Race Course handicapper Frank Carulli, who lists the colt as an even-money bet for a Triple Crown and at 1-2 odds for winning the 133rd Preakness Stakes tomorrow in Baltimore.

Horse racing's last winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes was Affirmed in 1978, ending a decade with three Triple Crown champions. Big Brown, named after United Parcel Service Inc., faces only one colt, Gayego, from the Derby.

``It hasn't been done for so long and racing would love to have a superstar,'' said Tony Sinisi, an oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

The bigger challenge for Big Brown may be in New York at the June 7 Belmont Stakes, the longest Triple Crown race at 1 1/2 miles, when he faces Casino Drive, Carulli said. The Japanese colt, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes on May 10, won his career debut by 11 1/2 lengths on Feb. 23 in Japan.

While Big Brown is undefeated in four races, he'll be tested as well by the period of time between races.

Short Rest

Expecting a horse to win three races in five weeks is ``exceedingly unrealistic,'' said Len Friedman, 66, handicapper for Len Ragozin's Sheets, which uses a system for rating racing performances on time, weight carried, starting position, wind and track conditions.

Jim Squires, who bred 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, said Big Brown may have an easy path to history.

``This is not a very impressive crop of 3-year-olds,'' he said in an interview. ``They're very slow first of all. I would feel better about him as a great Triple Crown horse if I saw somebody out there that could challenge him.''

Big Brown is starting from the seventh post position in the 12-horse field at the Preakness after winning the Derby by 4 3/4 lengths from the 20th position. Gayego is the second favorite at 8-1. Behindatthebar, the third favorite with 10-1 odds, was scratched today because of a bruise in his left front foot, the track announced.

UPS, the Atlanta-based company that delivers half the packages in the U.S., is betting on the success of Big Brown, named by part-owner Paul Pompa, whose trucking company handles UPS freight.

Nascar Style

Taking a page from Nascar's book, UPS became the exclusive marketing partner of the Derby winner in an agreement with jockey Kent Desormeaux and IEAH Stables, the ownership group.

If Big Brown wins the Triple Crown, the valuation of the company's partnership ``would be phenomenal,'' said Eric Wright, vice president of research at Joyce Julius & Associates Inc., an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company that measures the value of sports sponsorships. ``We struggle with any sense of how large it would be. It's uncharted waters.''

Exposure for UPS during the Derby, including the 56 seconds in which television viewers were able to see the company's logo on Desormeaux's pants, was estimated at $1.4 million by Joyce Julius.

A Triple Crown winner might boost a horse-racing industry dogged by the tragedies of Eight Belles and Barbaro. The two horses were euthanized after sustaining injuries in Triple Crown races.

Eight Belles

Eight Belles broke her two front ankles and was put down on the track at Churchill Downs two weeks ago after finishing second, the first time that's happened in the Derby's 134 year- history. Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Derby, was euthanized almost a year after the Preakness when he failed to recover from a similar injury.

The deaths in horse racing's marquee events that are watched by millions of casual fans have prompted calls from critics for the thoroughbred-racing industry to make the sport safer for the equine athletes.

``We are doing everything we can do as an industry to respond to Eight Belles,'' said Alex Waldrop, chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the sport's main governing body. ``But Big Brown is still a good story. We all agree that having a Triple Crown winner would be good for the industry.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net; Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 16, 2008 13:37 EDT